Kane Watch: Don't Let the Facts Get in the Way

Sound the alarm! Eugene Kane has a major problem with the way African Americans are responding to the Immigration issue. Yes, it seems to Kane that blacks are beginning to sound like whites! (Whatever that means) Oh the horror.

To be sure, Kane writes, "The uncomfortable truth about the current immigration controversy is the exposure of attitudes by some African-Americans that are uncomfortably similar to those of white Americans who are fed up with the perception that illegal immigrants have been streaming across the border to take away available jobs."

Amazingly, if Gene were to look at the facts without noticing the skin color of those polled, he may see that it means a larger group of of Americans are fed up with illegal immigrants streaming across the border to take away available jobs.

But it's just so much more fun to make it a black/white/brown controversy, I imagine. Hey, gotta sell papers somehow.

I've got to admit, Kane certainly has an interesting stance. This may be one of the few times I've seen him deviate from the masses. Especially if the polls are true in that:

-Nearly twice as many blacks as whites by percentage said they or a family member had lost a job or not been hired because an employer had hired an immigrant.

-The poll also found blacks were more likely than whites to feel that immigrants take jobs from U.S. citizens.

Wouldn't it stand to reason that Kane would argue against illegal immigration? Apparently not. It seems more important to Kane to "not sound white" than it is to look at the facts and protect the jobs of Americans.

And I love the racial stereotype Kane throws into the mix: There is competition for jobs, but frankly I don't see many African-Americans willing to volunteer for the kind of low-paying agricultural work many Hispanic immigrants regularly perform.

Ouch. To the best of my knowledge illegal Hispanic immigrants are capable of and work many types of jobs including but not limited to construction, hospitality services, farmhands, janitorial services, factory work, food service industry work, and much more.

Would African-Americans be willing to volunteer for those kinds of jobs, I'd like to ask Mr. Kane. If those are the kinds of jobs illegal immigrants are taking would you take a stance against illegal immigration then?

I'm really hammering this point because Kane goes on to talk about "sensational hype over illegal immigration," and I think his stereotype that illegal immigrants only work the fields may just be the most extreme case of that. Ultimately, this dangerous stereotype is the basis for his reasoning that illegal immigrants are no threat to Americans looking for work.

I think Kane may have to go back and double check the facts. Even at the risk of "sounding white."